The present invention relates to archery devices and, more particularly, to a bow fishing reel having an improved line retention system.
In bow fishing, an arrow is fitted with a lightweight line which may pay out behind the arrow when the arrow is shot from a bow. The line allows the arrow and/or fish, to be retrieved after the shot.
The line may be stored on a spin casting fishing reel which uses a movable bail and roller to wind the line about spool. The bail may be released to allow uncoiling of the wrapped line from the spool. The spool remains stationary as the line is withdrawn by the arrow. In this way, the inertia of the spool and contained line does slow the arrow.
A second drawback to this type of fishing reel is that the user may forget to release the bail. In these circumstances, the line may break or the arrow may stretch the line and recoil striking the shooter. A third drawback is that the process of winding the line on the spool and then releasing it without unwinding of the spool imparts a twist to the line that may make it prone to tangling.
These problems are eliminated by a novel bow fishing reel described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,516, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, in which the line is loosely coiled in a bottle. After the line is pulled from the bottle by the arrow, opposed rubber rollers at the mouth of the bottle clamp together about the line and push it into the bottle under the urging a geared crank handle.
Like the spin casting reel, the bottle-style reel eliminates the need for the arrow to overcome the rotational inertia of a spool on which the line is wound. Unlike the spin casting reel, however, the bottle-style reel does not require the user to remember to release a bail prior to the shot and eliminates the problem of the reel imparting a twist to the line.
The extremely low drag on the line provided by the bottle-style reel increases the possibility the line may be inadvertently pulled from the bottle to snag or catch on vegetation, equipment or the like. While it is possible to lock the line against discharge from the bottle by a number of mechanisms, if the user forgets to unlock the line, the same problems described above with respect to the bail on a spin casting reel can occur.
The present invention provides a special line retainer for a bottle-style reel that provides a suitably light retention force to complement the low drag of the bottle-style reel, but one that is nevertheless sufficient to hold the line in place under normal jostling. The retention force is greater in directions other than the direction of the arrow as it is shot from the bow. This directionally dependent release force further reduces the chance of the line being inadvertently discharged. Specifically then, the present invention provides a bow fishing reel including a bottle that may be attached to an archer""s bow and into which a line may be loosely bundled, with one end of the line extending from the bottle to be secured to an arrow and the other end secured with respect to the reel. A line retainer prevents discharge of the line from the bottle until a threshold force is applied to the line greater than that provided by the mass of the line.
Thus, it is one object of the invention to provide a line retainer especially suited for bottle-style reels such as normally produce extremely low drag on the retained line.
It is another object of the invention to provide a line retainer that automatically reacts to a threshold force of the arrow and thus does not require the user to remember to release the line before shooting the arrow.
The line retainer may provide an angularly varying threshold force that increases in directions other than the direction of discharge of the arrow from the bow.
Thus, it is another object of the invention to provide a line retainer that is selectively responsive to the desirable release of the line when it is pulled by the arrow.
The bottle may include an open guide ring at an opening of the bottle and the line retainer may be attached near the open guide ring.
Thus, it is another object of the invention to provide a line retainer positioned close to the exit aperture of the line to reduce the length of line that may be subject to snagging or catching.
The line retainer may have a tapered slot into which a portion of the line may be wedged. The line may be held by the elasticity of the line and/or the elasticity of the line retainer body. More generally, the retainer may provide two members biased together to provide a clamping, with a predetermined pressure, of the line between them.
Thus it is another object of the invention to provide a retaining means that is extremely simple to fabricate, reliable to use and easy to inspect in the field.
The foregoing objects and advantages may not apply to all embodiments of the inventions and are not intended to define the scope of the invention, for which purpose claims are provided. In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment of the invention. Such embodiment also does not define the scope of the invention and reference must be made therefore to the claims for this purpose.